Easier to Forget
by SueProject
Summary: When Team 7 is sent to another universe on a retrieval mission, they crash into an unsuspecting persons living room. They never expected to learn just how connected the two worlds are.
1. Chapter 1

"Sam, what the hell are you?" asked a woman of 22 with short blonde hair, "You're…blue."

The blue-faced girl looked to her twin sister, "I'm Kisame; why else would I be blue?" She pulled the large piece of cardboard off her back and poked her sister with it, "And this is Samehada." As she was about to poke her sister with it again, the "sword" was taken from her hands by another girl with long black hair wearing a small black tube top under a fishnet top. Her red eyes stared at the blue girl with annoyance.

"What are you, 12?" she asked, "I'm taking this until further notice."

"You look creepy with those contacts Keers," said the blonde, "Itachi has come to life and is going to kill me." Kira ignored them and went to her bedroom, going to hide the "sword" from Sam.

Tonight was the celebration of Kira's 21st birthday. Her actual birthday had been a few days ago but the celebration was being held tonight and was anime themed. It had taken 3 years since the idea was brought up to actually put into practice, but they had finally done it. Kira, the birthday girl, was dressed as Itachi; Sam was Kisame as she like being pairs with Kira and Jess was Momiji.

"I can't believe we're actually doing the dress up thing," said Sam, "You think we're too old Jess?"

"Not on your life sis," Jess answered, "I just wish the others'd hurry up and get here. I wanna get this party started." A small girl of nine years old ran into the room, she was Kira's younger sister that was staying over for the weekend. She too was joining in on the dress-up game as she called it. She had short dark blue hair that was spiked in the back and wore a blue shirt and white shorts. She was dressed up as Sasuke as she too liked to be a match with her sister. Her crystal blue eyes looked to the twins with a questioning glance.

"Where'd Kira go?" she asked, "The TV broke and I need her to fix it."

"Aww, Zoey," cooed Jess, "You make a cute little Sasuke, doesn't she Sam?"

"Sure," said Sam bitterly, "But I wanted to be Sasuke…" Zoey stuck her tongue out at Sam who pulled a face in return.

"Break it up you two," said Kira returning to the room, now wearing an Akatsuki cloak, "It's 8:30 anyway Zo-zo, your bedtime soon. I'll fix the TV in the morning." Zoey pouted at her sister before crossing her arms over her chest and stomping back to her room with a 'hmph'. "I'll bring you some warm chocolate milk in a minute."

"I want it extra chocolaty!" called Zoey from the end of the hall.

"You got it sweet," replied Kira. There was a knock at the door, Sam going over to answer it. Upon opening the door, an unforgettable and almost disturbing sight greeted the three girls. A man of 21 threw off his black cloak revealing a skin-tight green bodysuit and bright orange leg warmers. He stood with his hip jutted out to the side and his index and thumbs making goggles around his eyes, a wide grin plastered on his face.

"How's everybody doin'? Life treatin' you good?" he said with great energy.

The room stood silent before a tanned girl in red standing to the side of the green man started to snigger. Her snigger infected all that stood and soon erupted into thunderous laughter from all people present.

"My god Jake! Wh-what possessed you to do that?!" laughed Jess, holding onto the arm of the couch. Jake and the red-clad girl entered the apartment, large Cheshire smiles on their faces.

"I thought it'd be funny," said Jake, "It was sorta Shan's idea though." He motioned to the girl behind him, "Are Aaron and Steve here yet?"

"We're right behind you," came a new voice. Two more males came into the apartment, one with green hair and the other in a deep purple robe.

"Did you come all the way here like that?" asked Shanay, staring at the purple robe.

"Pfft, no," said the man, "I put it on in the elevator. Dude… what happened to you?"

"I went to the camp of Youth and was transformed into the ultimate figure of YOUTH!!" replied Jake, flashing the Guy smile with the thumbs up. The laughter that had just subsided once more roared to life, echoing through the room.

"Well now that everyone's here," began Jess, wiping the tears from her eyes, "Let's begin the celebrations shall we! Happy Birthday Keers!"

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

"Is everything prepared?"

"Yes Lady Hokage."

"Good, bring them in."

A pair of large doors opened and team 7 was led into the arena where the preliminary battles of the chuunin exams had been held. Naruto and Sakura were both looking rather creeped out, neither liking being back in the forest of death.

"Heey, sensei... why are we back in this place?" asked Naruto, looking around the room cautiously, "This place is creepy…" Kakashi sighed, keeping his attention in front of him.

"You have been selected to go on a retrieval mission," came Tsunade's voice.

"Hey, it's Granny Tsunade, when'd she get here?" asked Naruto. Tsunade's eyebrow twitched but she did nothing.

"An object has been recently located, an object of tremendous power that if in the wrong hands can bring about great devastation," she continued, "This is an A-rank mission, many lives have been lost in the retrieval of this object, including some of Konoha's best Shinobi. So I advise that you proceed with caution."

"Excuse me, Lady Hokage," said Sakura, "But if this is A-rank, then why are we being sent? Shouldn't it be Jounin or something?"

"Sakura, don't question Granny Tsunade," said Naruto in a hushed voice, "She knows what she's doing even if she is old." In the blink of an eye, Naruto was smashed in the centre of a newly formed smoking crater in the wall.

"To answer your question, ordinarily yes it is," said Tsunade, rubbing her fist, "But our chuunin, Jounin and even ANBU are somewhat out of commission at the moment, busy on other missions or injured. As a consequence, the mission was given to those of lower ranks; you guys. That good enough for you?"

"I see," said Sakura, "Just one other thing, if we're on a retrieval mission, what are we doing in this place?"

Snapping her fingers, the lights came on and revealed a large circular pattern engraved in the stone floor. Team 7 looked down at the floor with curiosity, Naruto mainly with confusion.

"There are special circumstances on this mission. Shizune!" Shizune appeared beside Tsunade, holding 4 scrolls.

"This is a portal summon," she began, "You each need to take one of these scrolls and then stand at one of the 4 cardinal points on the outside of the circle. The scrolls will automatically take your chakra, when the scrolls turn blue, unravel them towards the centre of the circle. The scrolls will take most of your chakra and it may take some time before you get it all back. Good luck." Shizune placed the scrolls down and left with Tsunade. Naruto went to the pile and began studying the scrolls before picking up the largest one with a triumphant sound.

"This one looks the coolest," he announced, "Sasuke can have this one." He picked up a small pink one with a laugh. Kakashi sighed in exasperation, taking the pink scroll from Naruto.

"That's enough Naruto, just get in position." Naruto made a face but went over to the north point. Sakura stood on the south point, Sasuke on the east and Kakashi on the west. Naruto scowled, looking at Sasuke who was a good 20 metres, away "Does Sasuke have to stand next to me?"

Kakashi ignored him and concentrated on his scroll, hoping to speed up the process. He could still hear Naruto's grumblings, though they were slowly lessening in volume. One by one, the scrolls began to turn blue, each being unravelled in turn in to the centre. At first nothing happened, but then a swirling wind picked up, spiralling into the centre of the circle.

"What the hell's going on?" shouted Naruto, trying to maintain a standing position. Cracks began appearing in the floor, starting from the centre then making their ways to each of the ninja. Deep purple gas spurted from the crevices, engulfing them in darkness. When it disappeared a moment later, the four were nowhere to be seen.

"So where are we?" asked Sakura, looking around at the blue that now surrounded every available space. She looked around at the rest of the team who were amazingly still with her. None of them answered.

'The gateway between realms,' echoed a voice, 'Follow the light and you shall find what you seek.' A neon green light shot out of the abyss.

"Let's go," said Kakashi, motioning for the team to follow the light.

After running for what seemed like hours, the light stopped and turned into a large white door. The echo returned, 'This is where we leave you, but beware.' With that, the echo left, leaving the team on their own. Sasuke reached out to open the door, carefully turning the handle. Before them materialised a hallway with 12 white doors; 4 on the left, 7 on the right and one in the centre at the end of them all.

"So… which door do we take?" asked Sakura, eyeing each of the doors.

"There's only one way to decide," said Kakashi, pausing. The genin stared at him. His visible eye went happy, "Eeni, meeni, miini moh!" The genin stood in silence, amazed at how childish their teacher could be.

'What a moron,' thought Sasuke.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-


	2. Chapter 2

-~-~-~-~-~-~-

It was almost 5 a.m. and the party had drawn to a mostly close. Shanay and Jake lay passed out in front of the TV, various bottles of liquor between them. They had been the last people left in the drinking game that had been started while watching Die Hard, drinking for every explosion and swear word. About halfway through the movie, Kira and Aaron had started playing cards while Jess and Sam had stalked off somewhere being very secretive. The pair ended up coming back into the room with a double layered chocolate cake, singing happy birthday. Aaron took this opportunity to break out the embarrassing snapshots that made the 21st birthday a memorable event. Though slightly intoxicated, Kira managed to confiscate the private picture that she had given Aaron for his 19th, only after it circulated the room.

Steve had gone to bed at around 2 a.m. as he had to go to work later in the day. Jess was asleep in the armchair having been kicked out of her spot on the couch by Aaron who now lay sprawled, half falling onto the floor. Kira was leaning up against the wall with a drunken Sam clinging to her lying in her lap, muttering for "Itachi not to leave." Kira was beginning to regret her costume choice as the drunken Sam reverted back to the way she was when she was 13, including the crush she had on Itachi. It had served for some minor embarrassment earlier in the evening when a greatly intoxicated Sam began calling herself 'Kisame-chan' and rubbing up against Kira, slinging her arms around her neck and refusing to let go. Eventually, Kira gave in and let her friend hang off her waist, giving her cloak away as a pillow.

Kira rubbed her eyes and looked around her living room. The leech on her waist stirred as she tried to get up, muttering soft profanities. Kira pushed on Sam's arm, eventually loosening the grip her friend had on her, though waking her up in the process.

"Why are you moving Itachi?" Sam asked, pushing herself into a sitting position, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Can you help me… drag the drunks to bed?" stammered Kira, holding her head, "Mmph… moved too fast…" Sam grunted and nodded her head slowly. The two girls stood carefully, helping each other balance straight before breaking out into soft sniggers. The two quietly tripped over the cans that littered the floor, shushing one another as they went to move their first target; Shanay. She was curled in ball, holding a vodka bottle like it was a teddy bear. Kira took her feet while Sam held her under the arms, stubbing her toe on the edge of the TV cabinet. They heaved Shanay to the first bedroom in the hall, dumping her on the single bed.

"Do you wanna have a piggy back race?" asked Sam, following Kira back in the living room, skipping, "Winner gets your bed."

"Sure, why not," replied Kira. Sam took hold of Jess, awkwardly positioning her twin on her back while Kira stood against the wall laughing quietly. Kira went over to Aaron and somehow in her drunken state managed to sling him over her shoulders in a fireman's hold, wobbling slightly and walking with a deformed slouch. Sam was laughing so hard that she fell to the floor, Jess dropping on top of her, squashing her, though she still laughed. Kira was also struggling to maintain her posture, her legs just not wanting to support her weight let alone an extra 85 kilos. Slowly, she was slipping down the wall, eventually collapsing to the floor with laughter. The sudden hard movements woke the previously sleeping people being used as instruments in the girls' competition. Aaron and Jess looked around groggily, muttering incoherently.

"What are you doing?" asked Jess, "Ow... my head.." She pushed off Sam's back, not noticing her sister under her, and dragged herself to the hall, going into one of the bedrooms. Sam and Kira were still laughing like idiots; Kira's head buried in her arm to try muffle her laughs. The vibrating of her shoulders rolled Aaron onto the floor. Annoyed at having his pounding head bashed into the floor, he crawled to the hallway and went in to the bedroom, muttering the whole way how he was going to kill them in the morning. Sam commandoed her way to Kira, laughing.

"Hey K-kira, my back kinda hurts…" she laughed, "Let's drag Jake to the room…"

"That sounds like a good idea," breathed Kira. The giggling girls slithered over to where Jake lay, taking one leg each they began dragging him out of the living room. Surprisingly enough, he didn't wake up, not even making any motion that he noticed he was being moved. Even when they accidentally smacked him into the door frame when pulling him into the room.

"So who gets the room?" asked Sam, "I don't mind sharing the bed."

"It's my bed Sam," said Kira in disbelief.

"But I'm a guest," reasoned Sam, "You should let me have the bed."

Kira sighed, "Fine, take the bed, the couch is comfier anyway." She pulled her cloak off the floor and slumped onto the couch, still warm from Aaron laying on it. She pulled her cloak over her body and curled into a ball. Sam looked over at her, "I woulda shared the bed, you know." Kira stuck an arm up and waved her friend away.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-

"So which door are we going through?" asked Naruto, watching Kakashi do his 3rd round of eeni meeni's.

"The ninth one," Kakashi announced.

"From which side?" asked Sakura. Kakashi's visible eye went happy and he scratched the back of his head, "The right, I suppose."

'_All that was for nothing then?' _thought Sakura and Naruto.

"Well, let's go then!" cried Naruto, running to Sasuke's surprise, the correct door.

"So you can count," the Uchiha commented.

"Shut up! Of course I can count!" roared Naruto, glaring at Sasuke.

"Hey now, calm down," said Kakashi, "Just open the door." With the rest of the team assembled behind him, Naruto turned the door knob. The door opened to reveal a surprisingly dark room.

"This is it? I thought it'd be bright and dramatic," grumbled Naruto in disappointment, taking a step into the room, "Ow!! That hurt!!"

"Is it a trap?" asked Sakura. The team prepared for an ambush.

"No... I crashed into something," replied Naruto bashfully, "What the hell is this thing?" He threw the object on the floor, soon becoming aware of the glare Sakura was giving him. Kakashi sighed and put his weapon away. The others stepped into the room as well, the space becoming cramped quickly.

"It's squishy in here," commented Sakura, trying to get free of a shelf that was poking into her back, "What is all this stuff? Ow, my foot!"

"Sorry, Sakura," chuckled Naruto, "Hey, I think I found the doorknob."

As he moved his hand to turn the handle, he felt a familiar rumble in his stomach. '_Uh-oh,'_ he thought. Trying to hold it in, he turned the handle and stepped out of the room, breathing a sigh of relief. '_Thank god!'_ he thought. A massive rumble erupted from his behind, freezing his face in terror. Sakura screamed, pushing Naruto out of the way and bursting into the next room. Sasuke and Kakashi stepped out, holding their noses.

"I can't believe you!!" cried Sakura, tears coming out of her eyes, "That was disgusting! Argh!"

They heard a groan come from the far corner of the room, a figure sitting up on a couch. The person was illuminated by the faint moonlight that was coming in through the window. A set of red eyes with three black commas stared blankly at the intruders.

"Sasuke!" said Kakashi in a warning tone. But it was too late. In a split second, Sasuke had flung a set of kunai and was charging at the person. The knives embedded themselves in the wall with dull thunks, missing their target by mere inches.

"Die Itachi!!" cried Sasuke, bringing a kunai to the person's neck, only to find himself in an arm lock before being flipped onto the ground with the kunai pressed to his neck.

"Who are you people and what are you doing here?" asked the person, the female voice alerting them that this was not Itachi. '_I shouldn't have done that_,' she thought, feeling nauseous. The girl felt something sharp being pressed across her throat, she let her own knife loosen, still keeping Sasuke pinned to the ground.

"Drop the weapon," ordered Kakashi, glaring down at her. She flung the kunai to the floor, embedding it an inch from Sasuke's face. "Identify yourself."

"Kira... Dominicov," she replied. She put a finger between the knife and her neck, "And you are?"

"Kakashi Hatake," he replied. Kira took in a jagged breath. '_There's no way...'_ she thought.

"I must be drunker than I thought..."

A light came on in the hallway, Zoey stepping in to the living room. Still dressed as Sasuke, her hair was dishevelled and she was rubbing her eyes and holding a white teddy bear. Her appearance shocked Team 7.

"Sis, I had a bad dream..." yawned Zoey, "Can I sleep with you?" Opening her eyes, she looked around the room, staring at the new faces. "Who are all these people?"

"Just some friends that dropped by now," answered Kira, swatting Kakashi's arm out of her sister's view. Zoey pulled a face.

"This is a strange time to drop by someone's house," she muttered, "Kinda rude..."

"Just go back to bed, sweet," replied Kira with a chuckle, "I'll be there in a minute."

"Fine, just don't get distracted with your boyfriend," said Zoey, disappearing back into the hall. Noticing the intruders were distracted, Kira side stepped Kakashi, and before he could react disarmed him and Sasuke, and disappeared into the hall. The 4 ninjas remained in shock.

"How did she?" asked Sakura, "I didn't even see her move."

Kakashi closed his eye, thinking carefully about the situation.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Walking down the hall, Kira was in serious thought. _'Ow, my head... why did I do that? I hope none of this is real... how can it be real? It's a cartoon for god's sake!_' She looked to the weapon pouches in her hands, "They feel real though..." She put the four pouches in her pocket and continued on to the last room in the hall, seeing Zoey sitting up in the bed. Joining her sister she pulled her into a hug.

"Now what was this dream about?"

Zoe looked down, "There was a big monster with torn and bloody skin and biiig biig spikes. He said he was going to eat me. He was sending his flesh-eating bugs after me and I couldn't hide from him!" Zoey held Kira tightly around the waist. Stifling a giggle, Kira stroked her sister's hair.

"You poor thing," she cooed, "Tell you what; you ever see this monster again... tell him I'll cook him en flambé if he tries anything." She kissed Zoey's forehead, "That goes for any other monsters as well." Zoey smiled up at her sister, giving her one last squeeze before going back under the covers, snuggling into the bed. "Good night, sweet." Kira left the room, closing the door behind her. She spied the grouchy Uchiha staring at her from the living room, a glare on his face. Still reeling from a drunken headache even though she hadn't had that much, she went into the bathroom. She washed her face with some cold water and massaged her temples. Sasuke's reflection appeared in the mirror.

'_Still hasn't worn off...' _she thought, "Keep standing there like that, and your face will freeze that way." There was no change in the boy's facial expression. Sighing, she walked back out to the living room.

"Here's the thing, I'm just gonna ignore you all and hope by later in the morning you all disappear," she announced, "If you are really here, make yourselves comfy... if not, then I'm just a crazy drunkard." She walked past Sakura and Naruto, going into her bedroom and locking the door. She emptied the pouches into a drawer which she then locked before slumping onto the bed, pushing Sam across to make room for herself.

"I don't think I'm gonna drink for a while after this..." she muttered into her pillow.

Back in the living room, the genin looked to their Jounin sensei, wondering what to do next. Kakashi sighed and went over to the couch, lying down.

"Well, you heard her," he said, "Make yourselves comfortable."

"Can we trust her?" asked Naruto, "How do we know she's not working for the Akatsuki or some other organisation?"

"We don't," replied Kakashi, draping his vest over the edge of the couch, "But we may as well make the most of this hospitality while we can."

-~-~-~-~-~-~-


	3. Chapter 3

-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Kira awoke to the sounds of her alarm, she swiped around before finally hitting the snooze button. Her head seemed worse now than it did earlier. '_I wonder if that was real...'_ she thought. She sat up slowly, trying not to aggravate her head further and slouched to the door.

"Don't leave me..." moaned Sam, "It's too early...." Kira shook her head at her friend and left the room. The events of the early hours of the morning turned out not to be a hallucination as she saw 4 figures asleep in her lounge. Still not trusting herself, she decided to wait for the others to wake up and went to the kitchen and began prepping some food. Not too long after, Aaron came drowsily into the kitchen, rubbing his head.

"Keers, my head hurts..." he grumbled, resting on the high counter, "That smells nice though... what you making?"

"Pancakes, I think..." she replied searching through the cupboard for a mixing bowl, "Plain or flavoured?"

"I don't care as long as I get something in my stomach!" cried Shanay from the hall. She came into the room looking unaffected by the previous night of drinking. Aaron stared at her murderously.

"Lucky bitch..." he grumbled. Shanay just patted him on the head, which made his head ache even more, "I feel sick..."

"Just don't spew on the bench," said Kira, "I don't want it in the pancakes." Aaron made mocking laugh faces at her before getting up and going to the bathroom. Shanay took his spot at the bench, dipping her finger into the pancake batter, Kira swatting her away.

"Aww, come on Kiki, just a little taste," Shanay pleaded. Kira brought the wooden spoon up.

"Not til they're cooked," she said. Shanay poked her tongue out at her friend and stared over at the living room, a frown adorning her face.

"When did those people get here?"

"You can see them too?" asked Kira, "I thought I was dreaming."

"Why wouldn't they be there?" asked Shanay.

"Because...they're..." started Kira, "They just dropped by so early this morning that I thought I imagined them..."

"Wow, you must've been reeeeaaaaally pissed last night," laughed Shanay, "You didn't even drink that much. You should lay off the booze." She looked back over to the couch, "That guy is a hottie though; give me his number would ya."

By the time lunchtime came around, everyone had grumbled out of bed. Sam's face still had traces of blue on it much to her chagrin. She apologised to Kira for leaving blue stains on her pillows. After a brunch of leftover pizza and pancakes, Kira's friends decided to get going; the twins and Shanay going shopping, Aaron taking his brother to his friends and Jake just going home. They all questioned her about the new arrivals which she answered with they were friends from out of town. Shanay was still probing Kira for the hottie's phone number, and teasing her when she wouldn't give it up. Aaron was becoming increasingly jealous at the sleeping man on the couch. He was pulled from the apartment by a call from his impatient little brother who wanted to get to his friends' house. Soon, just Kira, Zoey and the four sleeping ninja were left in the house. Since Kira wouldn't tell her anything about them, Zoey was ignoring her and had barricaded herself in her room. Since the ninja were still passed out, Kira took the opportunity to take the contacts and make up off so that there wouldn't be a repeat of this morning. She still didn't know how they had gotten into her living room, or why they were there in the first place. '_I suppose I'll have to wait for them to wake up,_' she thought, wiping the eye-liner from her cheeks. '_There weren't even any fights over the remote or anything.' _She took the contacts out and rubbed her eyes, dark circles appearing beneath them. Sighing she went back out into the living area, noticing the pinkette that was sleeping on the bean bag was stirring out of sleep. Sakura stared at Kira with sleepily.

"Where am I?" she asked, looking around the room, eyes becoming focussed on Kira, "Who are you?" Her stomach rumbled, making her embarrassed. Kira just shook her head and went into the kitchen, Sakura watching her every movement closely, remembering how she had moved earlier.

"There's no need to be afraid," said Kira, "Or suspicious. If anyone should be acting that way, it's me. You are intruding in my house you know. Now come have something to eat." Sakura frowned at her, slowly standing and walking over to the kitchen counter. She took the plate that Kira handed her carefully, suspicious of the woman who came close to killing Sasuke. She looked at the food like it was poisoned, only lightening up when Kira ripped a bit of the pancake from her plate and ate it. Her stomach rumbled again.

"Eat it or go on making that noise," said Kira with a smile, washing some dishes, "Before the blonde over there wakes up and eats it." Sakura looked over to the corner where Naruto was snoring loudly.

"I accept this meal..." she said quietly, cutting into the pancake. Kira passed her some maple syrup which she poured on slowly. Her eating became more relaxed as she realised there was nothing wrong with the food. After a few minutes of silence as Sakura ate, Kira decided to ask some questions.

"So, where are you from?"

Sakura placed her cutlery down. "I am not of liberty to tell you."

"Oh I see," jested Kira, "On a secret mission for the President are we?" Sakura coughed. "So you are... hmm... let's see..." Kira thought for a moment, "You are super assassins sent to kill someone who is about to betray a great secret that could end the world? No, not that. You... are thieves that are stealing from a rich mob boss..." She looked at Sakura, "Am I getting warmer?" Sakura looked like she was trying to hold in laughter, to Kira that meant her plan was working. She walked to Sakura's side of the bench and leaned against it.

"Or perhaps you are ninjas from a far away land," she said mistily, "Here to find a lost princess." She heard Sakura draw a short, sharp breath. "Well, whatever it is can I at least know the names of my intruders?"

"You should not get involved in things that are none of your concern," came Kakashi's monotone.

"Since you crashed into my house, I think it is my concern," retorted Kira, "I should call the police on you. This is breaking and entering, and there are children present, how do I know you didn't kidnap them?" She looked at Kakashi disapprovingly. Kakashi's expression remained unamused.

"By the sound of your voice this morning," he began, "You were shocked when you heard my name... if I am correct, that means you know of me." Kira stood silently. "Though it begs the question, how do you know of me? This is a different place to where we are from, is it not. Were you informed by someone of our arrival?"

Kira shook her head and walked over to the closet the ninja had emerged from; making silent irate noises at the mess it was in. After about a minute, she came back out holding a DVD. The two ninja watched her curiously. She put it into the DVD player and hit the play button. After the first few warning screens, the menu popped up with a background of the leaf village she pressed the enter button and the first episode began to play.

"This is called 'Naruto'," she said factually, "It is a cartoon that many people here watch." She fast-forwarded the credits, speeding through the episode. "Feel free to watch it..." She pressed stop and ejected the disc, "But not now, I have to clean up... and give the little grump some food." Kira went back to the kitchen and put some more pancakes on a plate, leaving the room to go see her sister. Sakura stared down at the cover, not sure what to think. It was a TV show, about them. She began to feel weird, '_Does that mean they watch us while we bathe?_' She shivered. Her eyes stopped on the title, reading it over and over, becoming increasingly enraged.

'_Naruto... Naruto... WHY NARUTO!!!!' she thought, _"It's not fair!!! That annoying brat has a show named after him!!! What is wrong with this world!?!?!?" She turned angrily to Kakashi to see if he could come up with a reason, only to find her teacher sitting in an armchair staring blankly out of the window. He didn't even respond to her yelling.

'_This must be too much for him...' _Sakura concluded smartly, "Sensei... are you alright?" Kakashi's head turned mechanically towards her, his visible eye completely blank.

"My book... it's gone..." he whispered pitifully. Sakura stared back at him, unsure of what to say or how to react. Inner Sakura got the best of her.

"AT A TIME LIKE THIS THAT STUPID BOOK IS ALL YOU CAN THINK ABOUT!?!?!?" she yelled in outrage, "DID what she said not CONNECT with anything!??!"

"Mmm... Sakura... do you have to be so loud?" murmured Naruto, before snuggling down to sleep again.

'_I hope they don't show the things he dreams...'_ thought Sakura, getting weirded out that Naruto may have been dreaming of her. She went over to him and leaned into his ear. "WAKE UP YOU IDIOT!!!" Naruto jerked into a sitting position, his mouth hanging open.

"A-aaa-aaa!!!!!!! That hurt!!!!!" he cried, clutching his ears, "What was that for Sakura?" Sakura just glared at him and walked away, throwing the DVD case at him. Naruto's eyes widened as he looked at the picture on the cover. "It's me... wh-what is this? Sakura? Kakashi-sensei?"

"It's a DVD," replied Sakura.

"What's that?" asked Naruto, "More importantly, why does it have my picture on it?"

"It's some sort of information disc," replied Sakura, beginning to growl, "And it contains a TV show about you."

"About me? Then that means..." He paused, bringing the cover closer to him, hugging it to his chest, "I'm famous... I'm famous... I'm FAMOUS!!!!" Jumping up he did a dance in the spot he was once sleeping in, cheering about his new found fame. Kira returned to the room, wondering about the yelling but as soon as she saw Naruto awake and dancing with the DVD, she guessed what had happened.

"You mind giving that back before you break it," she asked. Naruto turned to her, his face growing fearful.

"A-aaa-aaa... Sensei, Sakura watch out!" he cried, "It's Itachi!!" Naruto went for his weapons, only to come up empty handed. Frowning, he made the sign for the shadow clone, but found he couldn't mould his chakra. "What have you done to my chakra!?!?"

"Naruto, calm down..." said Sakura, slightly calmer than a minute ago, "She's not Itachi." Emphasising the _she_ in her sentence. Naruto stared confusedly at Kira, looking her up and down, eyes stopping at her chest.

"It could be a transformation," he said, "You won't get away with this." He aimed a punch at her chest, only to be hit to the floor by Kakashi, who had recovered from his ordeal.

"Cut it out Naruto," he said, "If you couldn't use your chakra, what makes you think someone can pull off a transformation jutsu?" Naruto pouted angrily, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Fine," he said, "But that still doesn't explain why she was dressed like him! Why does she have an Akatsuki cloak?" The ninja looked at her smugly, "Explain that one."

"Eh hem... it's called a cosplay," replied Kira, "It's basically playing dress up but you go as people from cartoon and video games, fantasy characters. And I was dressing up as him."

"But why would you do that?" asked Sakura.

"Coz it's fun, and you feel like a kid again," replied Kira, "Getting dressed in play clothes."

"That's not what I meant," said Sakura.

"I know what you meant," said Kira, "Because Zoey wanted it... she likes me to match with her. And coz she wanted to dress up as Sasuke, she told me to go as Itachi. She bought me the cloak and everything. I couldn't say no, she would've never spoken to me again."

"Why would you want to go as Sasuke?" grumbled Naruto, "I'm much cooler, isn't that right Sakura."

"In your dreams, Sasuke is the coolest ninja there ever was," said Sakura, glaring at Naruto.

"But it's my show!" he argued, pointing forcefully to his likeness on the cover, "See... 'Na-ru-to', not 'Sa-su-ke'."

"What idiot is messed up enough to give Naruto his own TV show?!?!?!" cried Sakura, taking the DVD off of Naruto, looking murderous. Kira took the DVD off her before she did anything to it.

"What's with all the noise in here?" yelled Zoey, appearing in the doorway, hands on her hips, "I can barely hear the TV with all of this yelling!!!" She glared at Naruto and Sakura, before turning to her sister, "'_Just because it was your birthday doesn't mean you can be so loud'_, isn't that what you said to me on my birthday?" Kira kneeled down next to Zoey.

"'_But it was my birthday so I can be as loud as I want_,'" replied Kira, "Isn't that what you said to me?" She poked Zoey's forehead, "Besides it wasn't me that was making the noise, now go play your games."

"When do I get to play with you?" asked Zoey. Kira ushered her sister into the hall.

"When I get these people sorted out," replied Kira.

"This is the last time I spend a weekend with you! Why are you being so mean?!" Zoey shut the door to her room, locking it behind her. Kira sighed, turning her attention to her unwanted guests. Naruto and Sakura were staring at her, "What's the matter with you two?" They didn't answer her so Kira let it go. "Either way, you have to go back where you came from... however you got here..."

"We're not leaving until we complete our mission," said Naruto, snapping out of his stupor, "We have to find that jewel." This comment snapped Sakura from her paralysis and she promptly smacked the blonde over the head.

"You're not meant to talk about it with outsiders," she growled in a whisper, "Are you stupid... are you that stupid?" She let go of him "Don't get someone innocent involved with this."

"I'm involved in this only because you've landed in my house," said Kira, "And you could use my help anyway. The way you guys are dressed, you'd stick out like a sore thumb... you'd probably get run over by a truck."

"What's a truck?" asked Naruto.

"Don't worry about it," said Kira, waving the blonde away, "You should just try to find that jewel and go home. I will be here, pretending that this never happened and that you're just figments of my imagination." She looked over to Sasuke, "You should move this kid to one of the rooms, if you don't mind." Kakashi nodded and picked up the sleeping Uchiha. "I can't believe he's not up... I'd have thought Naruto would still be passed out."

"Hey! Why do you say that about me!?" cried Naruto, "By the way, how did you take Sasuke's weapon and get away from Kakashi-sensei?"

"That's not fair Naruto, changing the subject like that," said Kira, "And I did nothing of the sort. How would I be able to do that?"

"That's what I'm asking," said Naruto, "How did you do that?" Kira shook her head and went into her room, "Now who's changing the subject?!"

"If you want some food, there's leftovers in the oven," she said as she shut the door.

"She's hiding something," he concluded, looking at Sakura, "And I wanna find out what it is."

-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Kira sat on her bed, holding her still slightly pounding head.

"Just what am I gonna do about this?"

She stared out of the window watching the clouds slowly pass by, hoping they would offer her some insight on where she should go from here.

-~-~-~-~-~-


	4. Chapter 4

~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4 ~~~~~~~~~~~

After what seemed like an hour, Kira emerged from her room. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her face was screwed up deep in thought. She looked to the three ninjas that were in her living room who were still there after all these hours. Her friends had seen them so they were surely not schizophrenic hallucinations. She noticed that Sasuke was still absent from the group which helped her make up her mind about what she was going to do with them. A completely rational decision that she thought would be fair on everyone. She looked to Kakashi who returned her stare.

"When Sasuke wakes up, you all have to leave," she announced, "I'll give you some tips on how not to get killed here but that'll be it. I do not want to see you again, understand?"

Kakashi nodded with a short sigh, "Completely. We thank you for your hospitality." Kira nodded curtly, leaving the room once more. She returned a moment later with a pile of clothes which she dumped on the floor in the middle of the couches. She then sat down and organised it into piles of girls and boys. Naruto stared at her with curiosity.

"How is doing the laundry helping us?" he asked.

"Seeing as you guys would stick out like a sore thumb," explained Kira, "I will loan you some clothes. I don't need to be haunted by you turning up on the news dressed as you with people calling you nutcases." She threw a dull orange top and a pair of army green cargoes at Naruto, "That should fit you, coincidentally enough. You can change in my room; it was the one I came out of." Naruto stalked off to put his new outfit on while Sakura awaited something to be chosen for her.

"I'm sorry but," stuttered Sakura with a blush, "Can I have that dark crimson pink one?" She pointed to the t-shirt with the stars on it. Kira looked puzzled but nodded and gave it to her, also handing her a knee-length black skirt. "Thank you very much. Which way is your bathroom?"

"Down the hall and to the right," replied Kira, "Knock first just in case someone's in there." Sakura nodded and went off down the hall. Kira was left in the room with Kakashi who seemed disinterested to say the least but that was how he always looked. He stared across the room blankly, not flinching when Kira stood and handed him a dark olive green shirt, though he took it all the same. "You can keep your pants as long as you take the bandages off the ends." She went back to the pile of clothes and gathered them up, taking them back to the room she got them from. She came back into the room and took her wallet out, sifting through it until she found money and not receipts.

"This should last you until tomorrow night," she said, handing him a couple of hundred, "There's a motel down the road, they're pretty cheap there and they do breakfast. You'll have to get your own dinner though, there's a McDonalds just across the road from the motel." She put her wallet back in the drawer of the stand at the door. "About your weapons, you can't have them with you. They're illegal to carry."

"I see," muttered Kakashi, "Then I suppose we will be leaving them here with you."

"When you find what you're looking for," said Kira, "I will give them back to you. Hopefully you won't take too long, Zoey has a way of finding things she shouldn't. Even if they are locked up." At that moment, the door to Kira's room creaked open and Naruto stepped out dressed in the outfit Kira had given him, his clothes folded over his arm. The look on his face was that of someone guilty of doing something. A glint came out from under his clothing which turned his expression into one of someone who'd been caught.

"Eeerrmm… I accidentally knocked something over and it spilled on the floor," he said, "The thing it was in is kinda broken." He showed what he had in his hand which was a small crystal elephant. He laughed sheepishly, "Sorry about that."

_'I just got that last night_…' Kira sighed, "At least you said something about it… put it over on the bench, I'll clean it in a minute." It was at this time that Sakura returned to the living room, staring in shame at the object Naruto had broken, scolding him quietly as Kira explained to Kakashi what he should be careful of and what not to do when out on the streets. Kakashi sat seriously the entire time, his gaze never faltering, attention never leaving Kira.

"I'm not exactly sure how you're supposed to go about looking for this jewel," finished Kira, "But don't go robbing jewellery stores. That's it, I suppose. I, erm, hope you get home safely. I'll give you a bag for your clothes and other stuff." Kakashi didn't say a word but gave her a nod to signal that he had heard her. He then got up and went into Kira's room.

"We thank you for your help," said Sakura, deciding to speak in her teacher's absence, "And sorry for troubling you." Kira nodded then disappeared into the hall, leaving the two genin alone. They sat in silence, unsure of what to do until Naruto leaned over to Sakura.

"Hey, you wanna watch that DVD thing?" he asked, "You've gotta be curious about it too Sakura."

"Not in the least," retorted Sakura, crossing her arms over her chest with a pout. She sneakily looked down at the cover that sat in the coffee table, not wanting to be the one to put it on.

"Fine," said Naruto, "I'll watch it then. You can just leave the room." He picked the DVD off the table but was stopped by Sakura who snatched it away from him.

"As if," she said, "You'll probably break it. And that's no way to thank someone for their help. You've already broken something far more valuable." She stared pointedly at the elephant that was missing its hind-quarters. Naruto thrust himself backwards onto his hands in exasperation.

"Well you put it on then," he said, "If you don't trust me with it."

"I'm not the one that wants to watch it," defended Sakura, "Who wants to watch this dumb cartoon about you anyway?"

"Me for one," answered Naruto, "Come on Sakura, please?" Sakura stared down at the DVD in her hands, still not wanting to admit she was curious. Taking a deep breath, she opened the cover softly and popped the centre, taking the disc onto her finger. She then looked to the small rectangular boxes below the TV.

_'Now… which one did she take it out of?_' she thought, _'What button do I press? We should have asked her to explain it before she left_.'

"Haven't you ever watched a DVD before ?" asked a small voice from the hall. Sakura and Naruto turned to see Zoey staring at them curiously. "I thought everyone had." She approached the two, taking the DVD from Sakura and placing it in the second box under the TV before pressing the button with the triangle on it. Just as it had when Kira had demonstrated it, a black warning screen came up. Zoey too skipped this and went straight to the main menu.

"What episode do you want to watch?" she asked, "Or do you just want it from the start?"

"From the start is good," replied Sakura in a small voice, embarrassed that she couldn't remember those simple steps, "Thank you." Zoey smiled at her and brought the remote over.

"You press this button to pause and this one to play again," she explained, "And when you're done press this red button up the top. Kira says not to do it that way coz it'll wreck the movies but they still seem to work fine. If you wanna watch something else press this button. Don't hold the discs by the silver side, _that's_ what wrecks them." She stood up and went to the fridge.

"Thank you," repeated Sakura. Zoey nodded.

"If you get stuck I'm in the room at the end of the hall." She left the living room with a bag of chips and some cookies. The genin watched the screen, feeling strange seeing themselves reflected in it. Naruto watched on in awe, still reeling in the fact that he had a TV show. His expression changed to annoyance as Sasuke appeared on the screen, even though it was only a young Sasuke of around 8 years old. Sakura contained her squeal and kept watching.

_'Maybe we can learn more about Sasuke_,' she thought, _'And then I can connect with him on a deeper level and have an edge over that Ino-pig_.' She watched the screen intently. The episode played through Sasuke watching Itachi train before trying what his brother was doing, twisting his ankle. Naruto laughed quietly at Sasuke's pitiful expression, Sakura giving him a dirty look but returned her attention to the episode and began blushing. Naruto went for the remote but it was snatched away from him by Sakura. He slumped back onto his hands exasperatedly, pouting but continuing to watch the episode. Kira came back into the room quietly, watching the episode mistily over their shoulders. She walked over to her room, stopping at the door.

'Does it really take that long to change?' she thought, knocking, "You done in there?"

"Eh? Just about," came the muffled reply, Kira sighed.

"Can I come in?"

"It's fine." Kira opened the door carefully, not sure what to expect when she walked in, suspicious about how long it took ninja's to change into clothes.

"You haven't broken anything have you?" She braced herself to find something else spilled on the floor, not so surprised to find a shirtless Kakashi standing pulling the shirt over his head. "Well that's better than something being broken… You ninja's take ages to change, it's highly suspicious. You weren't searching my room or anything were you?"

"Of course not," replied Kakashi, "I was admiring the view." Kira shook her head, sitting down on her bed she set the bag down.

"Here's a bag for your things…" she paused for a second, "This might be a bit much but… the mask you're wearing… you're going to have to take it off…"

"Is that so…" said Kakashi with a sigh, "I'm afraid that's impossible, I have to decline."

"So you're willing to have countless people stare at you rather than take the mask off?"

"I see nothing wrong with my mask," defended Kakashi, touching the cloth of his mask lightly.

Once more, Naruto tried to take the remote off of Sakura but failed as she hit him over the head. He lay on the floor, staring around the room boredly. He turned his attention to the bedroom where the door was ajar. Hearing the conversation between the 2 adults and finding it more interesting than what was happening in _his_ TV show that was for some reason focussing on Sasuke, Naruto listened in on them.

_'I wonder if she can get him to take the mask off,'_ he thought, smirking, '_We'd finally get to see under the mask… but that's not fair if she gets it off him just like that…_' A scowl became plastered on his face but he remained at the door, sitting cross-legged with his arms over his chest.

"You wouldn't be able to get anything done," he heard Kira say, "There would be lots of questions…"

"I can deal with them as they come," said Kakashi.

Sakura looked over to Naruto, noticing his absence, finding him sitting annoyed at the door of Kira's room. She turned back to the screen; the picture was all pixelated with pink and green lines going across the screen. The audio was all jumpy and soon was just fragments of words. Then finally, the DVD gave up and brought up the manufacturers screen with an error message. Sakura, who had been entirely engrossed in the episode about Sasuke, now stared at the screen in horror.

"Wha… what happened?" she sobbed, "Where did the movie go? Naruto what did you do?"

Naruto looked at her in surprise, "What did I do! I was over here! It was all your staring that broke the disc thing!" Sakura looked away, angrily clutching the carpet muttering about Naruto's stupidity. It was at this time that Sasuke walked into the room, paying no attention to his team mates and merely scanning the room for Kakashi. Without a sound, he stood against the wall ignoring everything around him. Kira's bedroom door opened with a light creak as she led Kakashi out. Naruto looked up in hope that she'd gotten the teacher's mask off but was soon disappointed to find he was still wearing it.

"Sasuke, you're awake," observed Kakashi, "That will make things much easier, we're leaving now. So put your things in this bag…"

Naruto made his way over to Kakashi, shoving his clothing in the bag, "Why doesn't Sasuke have to change?"

"Coz he's wearing the most normal looking clothes," said Kira, "But you're all going to have to take your headbands off. Well good luck with looking for the jewel, hope you find it." She went over to the door, Sasuke watching her distrustfully.

_'Why are we taking orders from her?_' he thought, looking over to Kakashi.

Kakashi looked at Sasuke tiredly, shaking his head, "Thank you for your hospitality Kira, we will be leaving now." Naruto led the team out of the door, stopping at the elevator and staring at it in concentration.

"How does this work?" he pressed the button that pointed down and heard a rumbling noise. Sakura regarded him with annoyance.

"Don't tell me you broke that too!" she cried as she made her way over to him. Then the rumbling stopped and the doors opened, revealing the empty metal cabin, a gold rail lining along the centre of the walls. "Where did that come from?"

"Eh hem.." interjected Kira, "It's a lift, you get in it and it'll take you up and down. Generally faster than the stairs… you'll want the ground floor. Just stick to the footpath and watch the signs." The team shuffle into the elevator, Sasuke being ushered in by Kakashi. Kira heaved a sigh as the doors shut, slipping down the wall.

"Of all the times for this to happen…" she muttered mistily, "It's been nine years… almost to the day."


	5. Chapter 5

~~~~~~~~ 5 ~~~~~~~~

"Kakashi-sensei," said Sasuke, "You don't really trust her do you?"

Kakashi turned to the Uchiha, "Everyone has things they don't want people to know, Sasuke. I, myself, am a very private person." His students sighed at his question dodging methods.

"I still want to know how she disarmed all of us," said Naruto, "I didn't even see her move… Did you Sakura?" She shook her head, Naruto stepped closer to her, "She even disarmed sensei... there aren't many people that can do that." Sakura nodded in agreement, both looking over to their teacher who could hear them.

"That is enough you three," sighed Kakashi, "Let's just focus on our mission and find that jewel."

The lift came to a stop, the light lit on the G button. The doors opened and the four ninja left its confines, stepping into the foyer. The look of the polished floors and large walls made of glass that allowed them to see to the sea on the other side of the road left them awestruck. The way the building was set up was much different from what they were used to with any of the inns they had previously stayed in.

"Where do we even start looking?" murmured Sakura, still taking in the scenery, "We don't know anything about this place."

"Then I suggest we learn about it," said Kakashi, studying the cars with great fascination, "Like perhaps what these carriages are." As they began walking again, Sakura paused, her vision clouding over.

_'Take them to the farm,_' she heard a voice say. She recognised it as the voice from the void, "I'm not sure why… but I think we should look for a farm…" The boys looked to her and she blushed, "It's somewhere to start… Or not…"

"Why do you say a farm?" asked Naruto.

_'Because a voice told me to,_' she thought, _'Like I can really say that…_' Sakura crossed her arms over her chest and turned away, her blush even more prominent, "I told you I don't know… It just came to me!"

"It's alright Sakura," calmed Kakashi, "Well, shall we find a farm then?"

"Where would we find a farm? This entire place looks like it goes on for miles," whined Naruto, "I don't think it's going to turn into farmland or forest soon."

"Just keep your mouth shut and look, idiot," said Sasuke, not even dignifying Naruto with a look as he insulted him. Instead he looked up to the top floor of the apartment building at where Kira's apartment was located before looking away in anger. _'How did she best me? It was more than luck,_' he thought, his eyes fleeting over to his teacher, _'The way she moved was even undetected by Kakashi… there isn't anyone that can do that._' Looking away, his glare hardened, _'No one but him…_'

The group stopped at the end of the street behind a large group of people who were also stopped. Sakura looked up at the light signals, noticing the small man that was lit up was a red colour. Within a minute, it turned green and the crowd dispersed, crossing the street quickly. The ninja followed on with the group, continuing down the street, still getting used to the sights of this new world. The vehicles on the road proved a great fascination to Kakashi who was now watching a deep blue soft top Porsche drive past. _'That's a nice looking carriage,_' he thought, 'I _wonder how it works… it's not drawn by anything… steam perhaps?_' His preoccupation with the cars almost caused him to miss Sakura turning up a street, "Sakura… where are you going?"

"Huh?" replied Sakura, snapping out of a trance. She looked at where she was walking then to where the rest of the team was, a good 10 metres between them. "Something's telling me to go this way… don't look at me like that Naruto!" Naruto stopped pulling a creeped out face, his hand now scratching the back of his head as he murmured an apology. "Sensei, please… just this once trust me… if it turns out to be wrong then feel free to ignore me in our future missions."

Kakashi nodded, "Since you are being so insistent Sakura," he looked back to the Porsche which was now speeding down the road, "It is better than wandering around aimlessly hoping to stumble upon something." A small smile came on Sakura's face, "Thank you Sensei." From there, Sakura led their expedition, her path being led by the voice in her head. In any other circumstances she probably wouldn't listen to something as suspicious as that but this world was a strange place to her. Something in the tone of the voice gave her trust and confidence in it, it had helped her find her way in the white abyss. Naruto watched Sakura as she led them with a small amount of uncertainty through the streets, becoming apprehensive of her as he wondered what was leading her around this city. However he didn't want to risk her yelling at him if he asked her again, instead deciding to keep his fear to himself. After about an hour of wandering through the streets, the density of the city buildings began to thin out, turning into groups of houses. Some of them were large while others were old looking and quite small. All the houses had sizable amounts of front yard, as they progressed, that land grew to encompass the entire property. Then the houses stopped and a forest of thin trees appeared, going back past the ends of the determinable property lines and stretching past further backwards, cutting through the back fields of the last few houses they had passed. This is where Sakura stopped.

"That's all I have…" she said quietly, "The feeling I had isn't leading me any further than this… It's somewhere in there, I'm sure of it." Kakashi patted her on the shoulder encouragingly.

"I'm sure we can find it from here," he said, "There can't be that much forest can there? You've done a good job, I think I'm starting to feel something coming from this area. We are looking for a small blue gem, no bigger than a chicken's egg. Spread out and search, go."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

Kira lay on the couch, Zoey sprawled out over her lap half asleep and desperately trying to stay awake. She looked out the window and watched the sun setting, a small amount of it still peaking over the horizon.

"Don't disappear Kira," muttered Zoey, holding on to her sister's hand tightly. The sudden murmur caught Kira's attention and she looked down at her sister fondly.

"What do you mean disappear?" she asked, "I'm right here." Zoey rolled over onto her back, looking up at Kira through tired eyes.

"Kain says you always disappear this time of year," she said, "Not literally but… he says you always go off on your own somewhere… Don't disappear this year Kira…" Kira smiled sadly down at her, planting a gentle kiss on her forehead, "You promise?"

"I promise sweet," she replied, shifting her into a sitting position, "But I think you should go to bed… you maybe stayed up too late last night, hmm?"

Zoey glared at her defiantly, "I'm a big girl! I can stay up as late as I want! It's not even 6 yet…"

"You're right," said Kira, looking over at the clock, "It's just past 9, I think that's late enough for you miss. Mum'd have my head, don't tell her you stayed up past 1 last night."

"I'll tell if you don't let me stay up," pouted Zoey, "I'm not tired!"

"How about some hot chocolate then?"

Zoey's eyes lit up at the mention of the beverage, not able to resist it and Kira knew this. She also knew that it would put her straight to sleep, something that Zoey had yet to realise. Kira went into the kitchen and made the drink for her sister, no sooner had she set it on the table then her sister had snatched it up and was sipping on it with a smile on her face. Placing it back on the table, she snuggled down into her blanket and laid on her sister again. After about five minutes, Zoey lay asleep in Kira's arms, a third of her drink gone. Squeezing out from under her sister, Kira went into her room and locked the door. She cleared a space on the floor next to the window and took a deep breath, slowing her heart rate down. She concentrated on the setting rays of the sun, slipping into a trance. Concentrating, a small blue flare reflected off the window, caught in the palm of her hand it swirled around. The feeling of energy flowing through her hand was something she hadn't felt for a long time, she focused on it. After a few minutes she felt a small amount of chakra connect with the swirl that was in her hand, beginning to form a sphere. Though the process was getting to be tiring, she continued with it for another 20 minutes, able to create a small sphere about the size of a golf ball. Breathing slowly over it, the coldness of her breath hardened the small mass of chakra. She went over to the window, opening it and stepping onto her balcony. Her forehead was covered in a light layer of sweat,

"This should do…" she whispered to herself, closing her fist around the newly made gem. She flung it into the air where it was promptly caught by a crow, being a shiny object. The crow then altered its flight path and flew to where Team 7 were in the forest, now meeting back in a group and sitting around a campfire.

Kira went back into the living room and picked up Zoey, a task that had become difficult as gathering proper chakra took a lot more in this world than it did in the ninja world. She held Zoey close to her and took her to her room, placing her on the bed and kissing her on the forehead.

"I'm sorry Zoey," she said softly, "I'm going to have to break my promise… and disappear…" She hugged her sister close, "Please forgive me, sweet."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Back at the ninja's campsite, Naruto was massaging his feet, complaining about how he was sure he had stepped on something. He kept asking Sakura to have a look at it but she outright refused saying that it was making her lose her appetite.

"How can you do that while we're eating?" she growled, "That is just disgusting Naruto." She looked down to her chips which she could no longer bring herself to eat after watching Naruto rub his feet, "Thanks a lot Naruto, now I can't finish my food."

"Well pass it over here!" he said, holding out his hand. Sakura gave it a dirty look and placed her chips a foot away from her, near enough for Naruto to reach them without making contact with her.

"Wash your hands at least!" she scolded, "Sensei, tell him! Sensei?" When no reply came from the masked Jounin, Sakura and Naruto, with food in hand, went over to him and saw that he was asleep. A wicked grin spread over Naruto's face as he turned to Sakura. For the moment, the two of them were on the same wavelength, Sakura's curiosity overriding her disgust of Naruto. The two of them reached down for their teacher's mask, only to have him roll over onto his side. Trying again, Kakashi rolled onto his other side.

"You can keep trying," came Kakashi's muffled voice, causing the 2 genin to freeze. "But you'll never get it off like that."

_'He was awake_?' they thought, retreating like they had been shocked by electricity. Kakashi sat up, stretching his arms out, "That was a nice rest." His eye turned to the 2 of them, "Eh? What are you two doing here? Did you have a nightmare? Surely you're not scared of camping outside after all this time?" They shook their heads in unison, retreating back to the campfire, "No? Then what was it?"

"You… had a mosquito on your face?" suggested Sakura, looking over to Naruto who nodded feverently. _'Maybe he really was asleep_,' she thought. Kakashi scratched the back of his head, his eye turning happy.

"You should have just let it bite me," he said, "Then maybe you would've gotten to see under the mask." Naruto and Sakura's faces turned white, '_He was awake…'_ "What's the matter with you two? You get stung by a bee?" Their heads dropped, expressions going blank. Kakashi looked around the campsite, "Where is Sasuke?"

"He went for a walk," said Sakura, "He's been gone for a little while… he hasn't touched his food…"

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Sasuke threw another punch at the tree, creating a large crack in the trunk. He breathed heavily but threw a kick at it, further breaking into it. He had been working at the tree for half an hour and little more than a small crater had appeared in its trunk, it was working on his last nerve. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't gather any chakra which only added to his frustration. His thoughts drifted back to Kira and how she had so easily pinned him to the ground and disarmed him. Once more he punched the tree, breaking further into the trunk.

'_How did she do that?'_

He kicked the trunk then turned when he heard a noise from the top of the tree. He reached for a kunai only to remember that he had none, they had all been taken by Kira. In the dim light he spied a crow holding a glowing object in its claws; it stared down at him with red eyes. Squawking, it dropped the object down to him, landing at his feet. The bird flapped its wings and took off, leaving Sasuke alone once more. He looked down at the glowing blue orb, holding it in his hand, he could feel a small amount of his chakra flow into it. Observing it more closely he could see small swirls of lighter blues in its colour, even in the darkness. Sensing a presence behind him, he turned and spied Kira emerging from the trees. Leaning up against the tree, her hair swayed with the gentle breeze, the moonlight casting shadows on her face reminding Sasuke eerily of his brother. The expression her face held reminded him of his mother, the only thing keeping him from attacking her. He eyed her suspiciously, his distrust of her growing as she approached him. Kira's image disappeared as she came out into the moonlight, putting Sasuke on edge. He looked down to the jewel in his hand suspiciously, placing it in his pocket then looked back to where the illusion had stood.

'_Why would I see her?' _he thought, '_Does this thing react on thoughts? Well, whatever… at least this mission will be over soon.'_

He left the small grove and made his way back to the campsite. Returning to the camp ground, he ignored the looks his teammates were giving him and went over to Kakashi. He took the jewel out of his pocket and set it down in front of his teacher.

Kakashi looked up at him in surprise, "Welcome back Sasuke… what have you found?" Placing his hand over the gem, he too felt some of his chakra flow into it, "Well, isn't this interesting. It seems we have found what we were searching for… well done Sasuke, Sakura." Naruto regarded Sasuke bitterly, making his way over to Sasuke's food and beginning to eat it.

Sakura looked over to him, "Naruto! What are you doing! That's Sasuke's food!" Naruto ignored her and continued eating, making Sakura even angrier.

Kakashi sighed tiredly, "Cut it out you two… we have a guest." He motioned over to the trees behind Sasuke where Kira stood, half submerged by shadows. Sasuke watched her closely as she came into the campsite, his suspicion of her growing. Hearing her footsteps, he was sure that this time she wasn't an illusion.

"What brings you to us?" asked Kakashi, "Though your timing couldn't be better." She set a small satchel down by her feet, the bag making metallic clinking noises. "We would have come back for those, we have to leave from your house."

Kira shook her head, "If that was where you were meant to leave from, you would have been led to my apartment and not here."

Sakura looked up in shock, "How did you know we were led here?"

"How did you find us? You are really suspicious you know!" interjected Naruto loudly, pointing a finger at her, "What are you hiding from us! Tell us now!"

"I knew you would be led here eventually," said Kira, "Because this is where I was found… coincidentally on this day 9 years ago." She looked to the jewel in Kakashi's hand and placed her index finger over it. The 4 watched in awe as the jewel was absorbed into her hand.

"Oyoyoyoyoy!" cried Naruto, "We just found that! You can't just suck it up into your hand like you're slurping ramen!"

"It is more like absorbing chakra, Naruto," said Kakashi, "But it was a good metaphor all the same." Kakashi studied her, "Though that begs the question, Kira… how are you able to use chakra?"

"That's right," said Sakura, "You said chakra can't be used here… were you lying to us?"

"I was telling the truth, people from here can't use chakra," she said evenly, "I came to be here because of the jewel." Sakura and Naruto became shocked, Sasuke's anger grew and Kakashi merely raised an eyebrow.

"There's no way…" murmured Sakura, "Is that even possible Kakashi-Sensei?"

"I had heard that the jewel had mystical properties," said Kakashi, "But I did not know it was capable of trans-dimensional travel." Kakashi stepped back, "Could you perhaps offer us an explanation?"

"The jewel acted on the desperation to survive and took my chakra and I wound up here," she said shortly. Kakashi nodded, accepting the explanation.

"Hang on a second!" yelled Naruto, storming over to the two of them, "How is that an explanation! It wasn't a good story at all! You didn't explain anything about how you beat Sasuke. Now tell me!"

"She explained what she said she was going to explain," said Kakashi, "It was a reasonable explanation."

"No it wasn't!" cried Naruto, "You owe us more than that! Now how did you beat Sasuke?"

"Naruto, stop being rude," scolded Sakura, almost half-heartedly, "She doesn't have to… tell us."

A small smile wormed onto Kira's face, hidden behind her hand though not missed by Kakashi. She walked through the two curious genin and made her way to the campfire, sitting beside it on the grass. She turned to them with a serious look on her face, the look slightly scaring the two of them. She patted the ground beside her, "Well come sit down, the story might take a while… if it's alright with you Kakashi." Kakashi nodded, also sitting down, though he sat under the tree away from the fire. Sasuke looked disinterested in the ongoings of his team and sat away from the fire, further away than Kakashi.

Kira sighed, "If I tell you about the mission will that appease you?"

"I'll decide when you've finished," answered Naruto, "Now tell me how you beat Sasuke." He and Sakura joined Kira by the fire, Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and focused intently on her.


	6. Chapter 6

~~~~~~~ 6 ~~~~~~

A twelve year old Kira's sword clashed with the female with white eyes, who glared down at her with a look of disappointment mixed with anger. Kira blew a fireball at her, managing to catch the few years older girl on the leg, slowing her down as the burn set in…

:::::::::

"Hang on," said Naruto, "This sounds like the end of a fight… Not good enough!"

"Naruto just shut up and listen," scolded Sakura, "It's obviously a painful memory."

"No, it's alright Sakura," laughed Kira, "I just wanted to see if I could get away with it. Now…"

Kira took the story back a bit further….

:::::::::::::

A twelve year old Kira knocked three men down, trapping them in a genjutsu before walking past them and over to the raised podium in the alcove on the left side of the room where a small box stood. Getting out a blank scroll, she rolled it out flat on the floor and began writing a sealing spell before placing the box on top of it. She raised her middle and index fingers up, activating the sealing scroll, the box disappearing from sight. Quickly rolling up the scroll, she exited through a window and ran from the town over the rooftops to the forest.

"I have the jewel," she said into her microphone, "Let's go."

"Understood captain," came the reply.

"_You were a captain?" said Naruto before Sakura hit him._

"_Shut up and listen," she scolded._

Her team joined her just as she was about to enter the forest, motioning that it was all clear. The mission was going off without a problem, though the oldest man on the team felt bad about doing it on the night of a festival. He looked to his young captain with a sigh before suddenly becoming alerted to something following them.

"Captain," he said. Kira nodded at him, motioning back to the only other female in the group who nodded and dropped back. The young male of the group looked to the female that had broken away worriedly.

"Yasunaga can take care of herself," said Kira, "We're not ANBU for nothing."

"_You were ANBU!" cried Naruto_

"_Naruto shut up!" hissed Sakura. Kira shook her head and continued._

The three remaining ANBU continued on, a new presence soon following them. Without a word, the older man pulled back and soon disappeared into the dark of the forest. Kira noticed the other man's pace slowing, his footsteps soon becoming louder than they had been before he missed his footing on the tree branches altogether though he managed to get a grip with his hand as he fell to the ground. Kira turned and landed next to him, seeing him pull his mask off, his face covered with sweat and breathing laboured. She noticed a slight blue discolouration around his mouth. She reached into her pack and took out a small vial of red liquid.

"I don't know what you've been poisoned with Hamada," she said, handing him the vial, "But this will stop it until we get back to the village." Shakily, he drank the liquid, his breathing slowly returning to normal. He placed his mask back on and the two of them continued on, Kira bracing Hamada as he slowly regained his strength. Out of the darkness, a hail of kunai came at them, Hamada fending them off with his sword before sending his own kunai back at them with an exploding tag. The explosion lit the trees behind them allowing him a glimpse of what was following them. His expression turned fearful as he made out the figure of Yasunaga, the place where her eyes had been was replaced by 4 bright purple slanted eyes. The eyes seemed to stare into his soul, making his body cold, disturbing him more when he could still see them in the dark. Hamada began to slip into a trance, the already dark night becoming even darker. Yasunaga's figure disappeared from sight. His pace slowed again and he looked over at Kira, unable to make her out fully, "C-captain… Yasunaga…there's something…"

"It's a genjutsu," came Kira's voice from in front, "Don't get taken in by it."

Nodding, he raised his hand with index and middle finger up together, "Release." Breaking away from the genjutsu, he was able to see again but his pace remained sluggish. '_Is that because of the poison?'_ Once more, Hamada fell behind, dropping to the lower levels of the trees. Glancing behind her, Kira observed as a thick mist seeped out from a small wound, enveloping him. She pulled back and went over to him, thinking fast and sealing the mist into a kunai. Colour began to return to Hamada's face, he soon opened his eyes, looking into the blank face of his captain.

"What is wrong with you Hamada?" Kira asked, "You're off." She reached into her pack and took out a scroll, "Go ahead and take this to the shrine, I'll deal with whatever is dealing with us." She placed the scroll in his hands, "Go, as long as one of us makes it back the mission is a success."

"Y-es sir," said Hamada, unnerved by his captain. Standing, he disappeared into the trees once more, leaving Kira alone on the ground. She scanned around through the foliage, feeling someone's presence.

"Come out," she said, throwing a kunai into the tree. There was no sound of the knife hitting the tree, instead a hand held it out in the dim light. A girl stepped out of the dark and into Kira's field of vision, the kunai embedded in her hand. Kira hid her surprise, recognising the female as Yasunaga, backing up as she watched the kunai become absorbed into her teammate's hand. A thick black substance enveloped Yasunaga's arm, a veil of mist dusting off its edges. Slowly the mist spread, spreading around to seal the area off.

"Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu," called Kira, launching a fireball at Yasunaga, who dodged and lunged at Kira, a sword emerging from her arm, swiping down at her. Kira blocked it with her own sword, quickly studying Yasunaga's face, 4 purple eyes adorned her face where her eyes should have been and her skin was a charcoal grey colour. The black goop covering Yasunaga's hand bubbled and began to try and swallow Kira's sword. "Gokakyuu no Jutsu." Blowing a slightly smaller fireball, she burned a hole in Yasunaga's arm, freeing her sword from the tar, whipping its remains onto the ground. The tar fizzed away into nothing, she heard Yasunaga begin to scream and saw her arm bubbling, as if trying to reform but it was unable too. The purple eyes looked upon Kira with a glare, dripping out of Yasunaga and onto the ground. Yasunaga fell to the ground as the tar took on its own shape; a large bulky humanoid shape, only discernable features remaining its eyes. Kira could feel the eyes trying to invade into her mind, so performed a quick genjutsu release before sending some shuriken at the figure who stood there and took them all to the chest, absorbing them into its body.

"You're not very bright," muttered Kira, bringing her fingers to her mouth, thin wire cords glinted in the moonlight, "Gokakyuu no Jutsu." Fire shot down the cords and into the creature's chest, burning it up from the inside. Kira sheathed her sword and watched as the creature burned up, not even leaving a pile of ash behind. She went over to Yasunaga's corpse, kneeling next to it she shut the female's eyelids. Placing her palm down on the ground she summoned a crow and scribbled down a message onto a bit of paper, attaching it to the crow's leg. The crow flew off into the air, soon becoming a part of the night sky. Kira stood and took to the trees again, heading in the direction of the shrine.

"_Hang on a second!" interrupted Naruto, "Doesn't the other guy have the jewel?"_

"_Obviously not Naruto!" cried Sakura, hitting him over the head, "Just keep quiet and listen!"_

Kira continued on her way to the shrine, soon feeling an unfamiliar presence following after her. Their footsteps were light, a girl? The wind stirred up around her, almost knocking her off balance, small but sharp leaves blew at her face, which she now realised was maskless.

'_When did I?' _she thought, putting it to the back of her mind, trying to concentrate on the location of her attacker. Another gust of wind blew at her, this time from in front, she managed to catch a glimpse of the person. Anticipating their move she sent out a barrage of fireballs all around the person's location, watching as one of them was blown back at her. Kira dropped to the lower level and changed her direction. A girl, a few years older than her, appeared beside her, her white eyes seemed to glow in the night.

"Did you think a trick like that would work little girl?"

She punched Kira in the stomach, jumping away when she noticed it was a replacement with an exploding tag. The tag detonated, splintering the log into smaller chunks that took the form of shuriken and sped at the girl. Hitting the girl in the chest, she dissolved into a whirlwind of leaves.

The girl appeared next to Kira again, a smirk on her face, "That was a nice trick, but tricks aren't good enough." The girl slashed at Kira with her sword, Kira blocked and continued defending against the girl's attacks. The girl's attacks gained ferocity, knocking Kira down to the ground where she launched a fireball at the other girl, making her dodge away. Kira tugged on a wire and released her traps, also activating the exploding tags she had placed on the trees. The girl once more burst into a whirl of leaves, the leaves charged at Kira who raised a hand in front of her face to dispel the genjutsu, blocking the girl's sword that attacked her from behind.

The girl laughed, "I wasn't expecting much of you seeing that previous ANBU fall so easily. You accept anyone into your group, he was weak. But I suppose he served his purpose as a distraction, even though it didn't last long." A second form of the girl appeared on Kira's left side, impaling her in the stomach. Kira gasped out in pain.

"It seems you were not much stronger," finished the second clone, drawing the sword out. Kira dropped to the ground, clutching her stomach, her hands becoming bloodied. The girl kicked her to the ground, she breathed hard, placing her hands on the ground.

"Summoning: Night of 1000 Crows," she breathed. The girl watched as Kira's form blurred, separating into a myriad of crows that swirled up into the sky. She looked around quickly, spotting Kira standing unharmed up in the high branches of a nearby tree, staring down at her.

'_S-she had me in a genjutsu… Impossible!'_

Soon, she had disappeared as the sky became completely covered with crows, no light flitting in through the gaps.

"How long…" sighed the girl, closing her eyes as the crows swooped down at her, changing into daggers as they fell, "Has it been since someone has caught me in an illusion?" She looked up to the spot where Kira had been, raising her bloodied arm in that direction. "Kuchiyose… Akuma…"

:::::::::::::

From outside the illusion, the girl's hand raised, pointing towards Kira, who suddenly found that she couldn't move. She looked down and saw her shadow linked with the girl's body.

"Akuma… no Kage," she heard the girl mutter. Her shadow began to bubble, turning into a tar-like substance, building up into a body that stood a few metres tall. The figure raised its arm and slashed down at Kira. A second figure loomed over Kira, pushing her out of the way of the demon.

"I'm disappointed Kira," said the man, coughing, "Letting yourself get caught like that." He drew his sword and slashed through the demon's chest, making it fall to the ground with a thud.

"Sensei…" breathed Kira, a small look of worry creeping onto her face as she went over to him, the man grinned weakly at her, pushing himself up to his feet. He groaned and held his chest tightly, using his sword as a cane. As she approached, she saw his wound bubble, the thick tar spurting out of the wound, enveloping around his torso; the monster that he had slain previously also bubbled, slithering up his legs and joining with the mass that was protruding out of the man's chest. He fell to his knees once more, groaning in pain he looked to Kira.

"Get out of here," he grunted, moving back away from Kira, "I'll seal off the area so this… thing can't get out. But you need to leave…" He cried out in pain once more. Kira nodded and took off once more, taking to the trees. Then man watched her with a sad smile as he fell backwards onto the ground, no longer able to keep himself upright. Staring up at the sky he pressed his microphone on, "It's too bad… you had to become an ANBU at such a young age…" he breathed, "I honestly wish you hadn't become a Shinobi… it's not something a kid… should be…"

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"And that's it," said Kira, "Somehow after that I ended up in this forest… as far as it was concerned, the mission was a failure."

"That's so sad," said Sakura, "Your team died… I'm so sorry."

"That's the life of a Shinobi," said Kira, almost mechanically, looking over to Naruto, "Did that story satisfy you?"

Naruto sat silently, looking into the fire, a deep frown set on his face, "You sent your teammate to his death… what kind of person does that?"

Kira sighed and stood, "I did what I had to… no one regrets it more than I do… you have to understand that Naruto." She looked to Kakashi, "Even though Hatake says those that abandon their team are worse than trash, he understands… Some things are unavoidable… it's unfortunate that sometimes they have to happen…"

Naruto said nothing in response, leaving the group in an uncomfortable silence.

"Into the real reason I came here," Kira began again, turning to Kakashi, "We have to go back tonight."

"We?" asked Sakura, "Are you coming along too?"

"The jewel is inside of me," said Kira, "I have to come, you fail your mission if I don't. You're lucky you came at this time or you would have had to wait another year."

"A-another year?" cried Naruto, snapping out of his brooding, "You're not serious?" Kira just nodded at him, trying not to laugh as Naruto's face drooped.

"We should get a move on, or we'll miss our window."

Kira took out a short sword from her duffel bag and took it out of its sheath, beginning to draw a large circle in the ground around the fire. The circle spanned 6 metres across, two straight lines ran through its centre, symbolising the cardinal points, at the ends of them she drew alternating pictures of the sun and a crescent moon, each with a different element in its centre. She drew a second circle halfway between the fire and the outer edge of the circle.

"How did you come to be here?" asked Kira, moving a metre from the fire and drawing another circle, erasing the horizontal lines that ran through it.

"A summoned portal," replied Kakashi.

"Do you have the scrolls with you?" enquired Kira. Kakashi nodded and removed them from his vest pockets. "Lay them out on the lines then take a spot in a gap and sit down."

"Hey, when did you become the leader of this mission?" asked Naruto, slightly annoyed.

"Now's not the time for that," scolded Sakura, rolling out a scroll, "Just do what she says!" Naruto unrolled a scroll and huffed as he sat down, crossing his arms over his chest. Kakashi shook his head, having a sense of de ja vu, sitting down. Sasuke was the last to comply, still looking upon Kira with distrust.

"Now close your eyes and clear your mind," said Kira, making a tiger seal, "I need you to focus and gather what chakra you can and give it to the scrolls. I will give you some of my chakra to help draw yours out." She went to each of them and placed her hand over theirs, tracing a line down the centre of their palms to the tip of the middle finger. The next few moments were spent in silence until Naruto exclaimed loudly in frustration.

"If you said we can't use chakra here, why are you trying to make us gather it!"

Kira went over to him, ignoring his glare, "Clear your mind and you should be able to gather a small amount. Chakra is more powerful here if you can manage to summon it." She placed her index finger to his forehead, injecting some of her own chakra into him, forcing him into a trance. She then returned to her position and did the seals for a summoning jutsu, looking around at team 7 she waited until they had gathered a small amount of chakra before placing her hand over the slowly dying fire.

"Summoning: Gate of reversal."

The fire flared and spread across the scrolls to the edges of the circle and slowly traced it in until it reached the centre again. Kira felt the chakra of the jewel begin to stir, slowly making its way out of its seal. The extra chakra helped Kira to remain standing as the gate swallowed her and the ninja up in flames, leaving behind an empty field, extinguishing the fire as they disappeared.

The landing back in the land of fire was less than soft, the group landing with a not so soft thud, enough to knock them out of their meditation trances. In the middle, Kira breathed heavily, clutching her chest as she tried to catch her breath. The long periods of not having used chakra caught up with her in a few short seconds, her eyes turning red with 2 black commas in each eye. As soon as it had appeared it had disappeared, though it didn't go unnoticed by Kakashi who went over to her, supporting her as she passed out.

"Well… we made it," she breathed, "That was something… for not having done it in a long time…"

Sakura looked around, "Are we really back?"

Looking to her left she saw the menacing shape of the wall that surrounded the Leaf Village. Kakashi lifted Kira onto his back and went to the front of his team, motioning for them to follow him into the village.

:::::::::::::::


End file.
